VetsParkMcDonald - Autumn Assignment 2

Assignment #1

Due Date: Friday, September 28, 2012

Word Clouds:
“A word cloud is a graphical representation of word frequency. Type or paste text into the box below and press the arrow button to view the word cloud generated. The appearance of a word cloud can be altered using the graphical buttons above the cloud. It is also easy to save and/or print the cloud by simply pressing a button.” – ABCya definition

Description:
The first day of fall was September 22. Fall, also known as autumn, will last until the first day of winter (December 21). Here in Western Massachusetts we are beginning to enjoy cooler weather, watching the leaves change color, and we will be hearing the familiar honking of geese as they fly south for the winter.

Directions:
For your wiki assignment this week you will create a word cloud that describes what you love about fall. Tell us what activities you enjoy, what about the weather you like, what you enjoy about autumn that you can't enjoy during any other season, and any other thoughts or feelings you have about this incredibly unique season. First, you will brainstorm in your writer's notebook. This will be completed in class. Next, type your work as a Google Document. Revise and edit your draft, making the things that you love the most the most frequently written so that it will appear larger in your cloud. Then, once you have reread your draft, you are ready to create your cloud. Choose which web site you would like to use. Then copy and paste your work into the generator. Finally, save and post your cloud to the bottom of this page for your classmate to see. You can discuss what you love and notice about each other’s clouds using the discussion tab of this page. Remember to use the scoring guide to receive your best score.

Scoring:
You will be scored on your ability to follow directions and complete the assignment by the due date. This means your score will depend on your ability to tell:

What activities you enjoy
What about the weather you like
What you enjoy about autumn that you can't enjoy during any other season
Includes any other thoughts or feelings you have about this incredibly unique season.
Complete the assignment on time

Sites To Use: (click the link to go to the site)

http://www.tagxedo.com/ “Tagxedo turns words -- famous speeches, news articles, slogans and themes, even your love letters -- into a visually stunning word cloud, words individually sized appropriately to highlight the frequencies of occurrence within the body of text.” – from the site
http://www.wordle.net/ “Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like.” – from the site
http://www.abcya.com/word_clouds.htm “ABCya.com word clouds for kids! A word cloud is a graphical representation of word frequency. Type or paste text into the box below and press the arrow button to view the word cloud generated. The appearance of a word cloud can be altered using the graphical buttons above the cloud. It is also easy to save and/or print the cloud by simply pressing a button.” –from the site

Examples of Mrs. McDonald's Finished Word Clouds:

Mrs. McDonald Created using Tagxedo Fall Tagxedo.png

Mrs. McDonald Created using Wordle Fall Wordle.png

Mrs. McDonald Created using ABCya Fall by ABCya.jpg

Please note the directions that were followed:

Activities Mrs. McDonald enjoys: watching soccer and football games, seeing runners, hiking, leaf piles, drinking hot chocolate and apple cider, celebrating Thanksgiving
Weather Mrs. McDonald enjoys: cooler air
Things about autumn Mrs. McDonald enjoys: leaves turning colors, animals preparing for winter, nights and days shift, migration, insects disappear, warm clothes, and Thanksgiving

Hints about how to save (once your word cloud is finished and exactly how you want it):

Make sure you can see your whole word cloud on the screen
Push the Print Screen button at the top of your keyboard (PrntScr)
From the Start Menu, open the Paint program
Click paste
Use the select tool to put a box around what you want to keep
Right click and cut
Open a new paint file
Paste
Resize the white canvas around your picture
Save your picture in a place you will remember it

How to post to the wiki: REMEMBER TO BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT WHERE YOU POST AND WHAT YOU SAVE

Click edit at the top of the page
Scroll down to the bottom of the page
Click the cursor at the bottom
Press enter a couple of times to leave space between each person’s work
Click File from the wiki toolbar
Click Upload from the upper right
Choose your file from wherever you saved it and open it
You will see a preview of it, click this
Your picture will be inserted onto the page
Be sure you put your name above your picture!

Start posting your work below this line ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------